Innovation Process Facilitator

Innovation Process Facilitator

Reports to: Vice President of Innovation & Strategy
Facility: Walnut Creek (2150 SR-39, Sugarcreek, OH)

Pay Rate: Salary

About the Team

Our Product Innovation team is at the forefront of creating next-generation products that solve complex customer problems. We are a highly collaborative group of creative thinkers and technical experts dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Summary

We are seeking an organized, people-centered Facilitator & Project Manager who excels at guiding teams, coordinating tasks, and ensuring project alignment across departments. In this role, you will serve as the facilitator for ProVia’s innovation and new product development (NPD) pipeline while also acting as the dedicated project manager for select, longer-horizon innovation initiatives. You will balance strategic pipeline control with day-to-day project oversight, acting as an unbiased mediator to maintain project momentum, resolve cross-functional issues, and protect ProVia's operational bandwidth. For NPD initiatives, you will own the process while Product Managers will retain ownership of the business case and project execution.

Core Responsibilities

1. Idea Intake & Strategic Governance

• Draft concise Concept Briefs during the initial strategic intake filter to clearly define opportunities and provide the information needed for screening.
• Coordinate regular cross-functional reviews to determine whether new concepts should advance, be redirected, or be stopped early.
• Maintain a comprehensive tracking report for all concepts declined during intake or stopped during operational validation, providing complete visibility for executive leadership.

2. Cross-Functional Validation & Project Execution

• Facilitate the pre-pitch validation process for major strategic projects, ensuring Product Managers secure unanimous digital signoffs across all 6 operational nodes: Design, Capacity, Supply, ROI, Loyalty, and Go-To-Market.
• Aggregate routine sustaining change notices into a regular leadership digest.
• Execute a standardized leadership review window, ensuring executive visibility and the opportunity for leadership to raise concerns without bottlenecking daily operational execution.

3. Conflict Resolution & Issue Escalation

• Act as a neutral, data-driven mediator when departments disagree or when a routine change is stalled.
• Facilitate focused, cross-functional 15-minute syncs to resolve issues with facts and data.
• Coordinate escalation to departmental VPs when necessary, document the resolution, and close the communication loop with affected stakeholders.

4. Project Planning & Capacity Management

• Help refine the innovation process, tools, templates, and training as the system matures, identifying opportunities to reduce friction while maintaining accountability.
• Manage a high-level capacity dashboard, utilizing standardized project tracking statuses to ensure concurrent project approvals do not overload Engineering or Plant manufacturing resources.
• Maintain visibility of project progress and proactively surface risks, delays, and capacity constraints.

5. Long-Horizon Innovation Project Management

• Beyond standard NPD, act as the Project Manager for dedicated innovation team initiatives, horizon concepts, and early-stage incubation projects.
• Manage the timelines, prototyping schedules, testing phases, and cross-functional coordination for net-new capabilities being explored and de-risked in the R&D stage before entering the standard product development process.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, PMP certification, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience: 3+ years of experience in cross-functional facilitation, project coordination, or project management, preferably in a manufacturing environment.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in project management software (Smartsheet highly preferred).
• Knowledge of various materials and manufacturing processes.
• Budget tracking, risk/issue management, and basic data analysis using Excel.

Soft Skills

• Highly relational with confident diplomacy; comfortable navigating disagreement, respectfully challenging others, and maintaining a positive, collaborative environment.
• Excellent time management and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Effective meeting facilitation and cross-functional communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and within a team environment.

Why Join Us?

• Shape something from the beginning. This is a newly created position. How ideas enter, how quickly they move, and what a well-built business case looks like at ProVia are questions this role will help answer.
• Visible work with senior leadership. The Facilitator reports to the Vice President of Innovation & Strategy, leads cross-functional working sessions, and engages regularly with our executive team.
• Meaningful impact. ProVia's momentum is built entirely on the strength of how carefully our people work together. This role is how we protect and scale that highly collaborative culture as our operations expand.
• A company built for the long term. We are privately held and family-owned, we make decisions patiently, and we invest in people who want to build something and stay to see it work.